Nintendo is Bringing Gaming to Smartphones

In a groundbreaking move for the Japanese gaming giant, Nintendo recently announced that it will start making games for smartphones. Nintendo will be teaming up with Japanese mobile gaming company DeNA to develop games specifically for smartphones. It’s welcome news for gaming enthusiasts who have been waiting to play their favorite games on the go.

Nintendo and DeNA formed a capital alliance, with each company taking stake in the other, and the partnership is a win-win for the two gaming moguls. Nintendo can take advantage of DeNA’s mobile gaming expertise to produce games that are optimized for smartphone users, while DeNA will benefit from Nintendo’s vast intellectual property, including their iconic characters and games.

Nintendo is clearly hoping that this move will solidify their future in the rapidly changing gaming industry. Nintendo said in a press release that “the alliance is intended to complement Nintendo’s dedicated video game systems business and extend Nintendo’s reach into the vast market of smart device users worldwide.” While at the moment there’s still a market for stand-alone gaming consoles, their future is likely limited so it’s a natural transition for Nintendo to expand into the mobile gaming market.

Smartphone Gaming on the Rise

With smartphones becoming smarter, users are increasingly relying more and more on them as their sole devices. Smartphones serve as everything from cameras to MP3 players; they have become a central hub for all digital activity, so naturally, users are trending towards playing more games on their phones instead of investing in yet another device. But until now, Nintendo fans could only get their fix on a traditional gaming console.

Nintendo is finally catching up to the smartphone craze. But despite the exciting news, don’t expect to be playing games like the classic Super Mario Bros. on your phone anytime soon. Nintendo’s new fleet of games will be designed specifically for the smartphone, keeping things like smaller screen size and different controls in mind. Nintendo said that only new original games that are optimized for smart device functionality will be created, instead of porting games that were created specifically for the Wii U console or Nintendo 3DS. This is being done in order to ensure the quality of the gaming experience.

Though the new games will be different from their traditional console versions, gamers might be pleased to recognize some familiar faces. Some of their smartphone games are rumored to feature Nintendo fan-favorites, like Mario.

In addition to developing mobile games, Nintendo will also be taking advantage of DeNA’s extensive online membership service experience to create an online membership service for Nintendo users. It will be accessible from a myriad of devices, including smartphones, PCs, and Nintendo systems, and will hopefully launch in fall 2015.

Despite their giant leap into mobile gaming, Nintendo isn’t getting out of the gaming console business just yet. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said that Nintendo is currently working on a new console. Details are rumored to be announced next year.